Jan. 18 – Jan. 31, 2026
Welcome to issue four hundred and eighty-two of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

1. Breaking down the $2.3trillion global sports economy (New York Times)
2. Redefining the game: How Punjab FC is transforming grassroots football in India (The Statesman)
3. The scientific case for ping-pong: Why athletes — and you — should play more table tennis (The Athletic)
4. Thierno Barry ‘dreams big’ after finding goalscoring touch at Everton (The Guardian)
5. Billie Jean King Shares Her Biggest Piece of Advice to Parents of Young Athletes (People)
6. Nick Goepper was ‘lost.’ Then the three-time Olympic medalist had a wild idea (The Athletic)
7. Soccer Fashion as Culture: Adidas, Willy Chavarria and Paris (David Skilling)
8. Mad Love: An NBPA executive has turned player fines into philanthropy gold (SportsBusiness Journal)
9. Who is Konnor Griffin? Everything You Need to Know About MLB’s Next Can’t-Miss Prospect (Bleacher Report)
10. Mission impossible? How this amateur women’s soccer team plans to keep advocating and go pro (CNN)


10+
Grassroots Investment Beats the Elite Talent Pipeline (Roundglass)
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/grassroots-investment-beats-elite-talent-pipeline-singh-huibc/
Soccer Without Borders named new co-convenor of Sport for Refugees coalition (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/soccer-without-borders-named-new-co-convenor-sport-refugees-coalition
Reimagining Youth Sport: Ashoka’s Playbook for Advancing Youth Agency (Beyond Sport)
https://beyondsport.org/2026/01/29/reimagining-youth-sport-ashokas-playbook-for-advancing-youth-agency/
Top 20 most popular sportanddev articles from 2025 (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/top-20-most-popular-sportanddev-articles-2025
Beyond Sport and the NFL: Turning Global Growth into Community Impact (Beyond Sport)
https://beyondsport.org/2026/01/27/beyond-sport-and-the-nfl-turning-global-growth-into-community-impact/


We present again our “Featured Video” offering(s). With the explosion of video content out there highlighting the good in sport, we want to showcase such content for your enjoyment and learning. This will be an ongoing effort. And now we add podcasts!

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and David Beckham on ‘Sports with Us’ partnership (CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/01/20/bank-of-america-ceo-brian-moynihan-and-david-beckham-on-sports-with-us-partnership.html
Sanjay Parthasarathy’s Journey: From Microsoft to Major League Cricket (Desi Roots & Routes/Roundglass India Center)
https://www.seattleu.edu/roundglass-india-center/press/episode-10/
She was the first US athlete to compete in a hijab at an Olympic games. Now she’s inspiring the next generation (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/20/sport/video/ibtihaj-muhammad-fencing-doha-digvid-creators


Introduction
I start this newsletter by congratulating Josh Rubel and Maya Chugh Singh (my niece), who ideated, developed, and executed, with a stellar student team, “On Deck,” the first Williams College sports conference. By virtue of being related to Maya, I got the opportunity to hear from a terrific collection of Williams graduates on a host of compelling sports business issues (and I thought Georgetown had a great collection of alumni!) The list is below.

What made the 2-day conference so terrific was the quality of the panels and the positive energy throughout the weekend. In the face of a pending snowstorm, the students handled everything with aplomb, supported by wonderful sponsors who were essential to the event’s success. I could not be more proud of Josh and Maya.

(A note of thanks to Josh’s dad Matthew Rubel for putting this list together)
Keynote Speaker Jonathan Kraft ’86 (The Kraft Group); Team Ops: Mike Disner (Lions), Matt Ratajczak (Union), Bryan Woolley (Mets), Abi Jackson (Athletes Unlimited). ? Strategy: Will Whiston (Arctos), Ben Rosenblum (FSG), Gregory Kim (OVG). Coaching/Leadership: Dave Clawson (Wake Forest/ESPN), Media: Claire Miller (Paramount+), Darren Hartwell (NBC Sports Boston), , Rebecca Kuo (Words + Pictures), Will Kingham (RXR). ? Data Analysis: Jennifer Gossels(Cubs), Innovation: Hanna Petrick (NHL), Michael Madding (Lucra), Peter Frelinghuysen & Misha Vitels (Earth Brands). Marketing: Katie Stiffler (Denver Summit FC)

One of the stories I want to highlight is an opinion piece from Gurpreet Sunny Singh (no relation) that speaks to widening the talent pipeline versus extending it for only a select few. Such an approach is not only beneficial for an increased number of kids who play sports, it resonates with adults who find themselves in the workforce. Here is an excerpt from the piece.

Teams and nations do not win because they identify talent early; they win because they create depth. Depth comes from broad access and a culture that keeps people in the game long enough for potential to surface. When the development pathway opens across schools, villages, and districts, a bad day does not become a verdict. When young people are allowed to grow at their own pace, the late arrivals are not treated as exceptions; they are treated as part of the normal curve of human development.

Please continue to send along your stories. You are both our audience and the best source of stories. Our Twitter handle is @sportsdoinggood, and you can find us at www.facebook.com/sportsdoinggood and on Instagram.

If you think others would like to receive the newsletter, please feel free to forward it on or have them contact us directly at sab@sportsdoinggood.com. (If you do not want to receive the newsletter anymore you can use the Unsubscribe button at the end of the email).

So, enjoy. And have a good week.

Breaking down the $2.3trillion global sports economy (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6963878/2026/01/16/davos-global-sports-ecomomy-wef-takeaways/

Redefining the game: How Punjab FC is transforming grassroots football in India (The Statesman)
https://www.thestatesman.com/sports/redefining-the-game-how-punjab-fc-is-transforming-grassroots-football-in-india-1503467696.html

The scientific case for ping-pong: Why athletes — and you — should play more table tennis (The Athletic)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6900944/2026/01/22/ping-pong-why-athletes-should-play-more-table-tennis/

Thierno Barry ‘dreams big’ after finding goalscoring touch at Everton (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jan/30/thierno-barry-everton-premier-league-goals

Billie Jean King Shares Her Biggest Piece of Advice to Parents of Young Athletes (People)
https://people.com/billie-jean-king-shares-her-biggest-piece-of-advice-to-parents-of-young-athletes-11883589

Nick Goepper was ‘lost.’ Then the three-time Olympic medalist had a wild idea (The Athletic)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6971923/2026/01/26/nick-goepper-us-olympics-freestyle-skiing-halfpipe/

Soccer Fashion as Culture: Adidas, Willy Chavarria and Paris (David Skilling)
https://substack.com/home/post/p-186241154

Mad Love: An NBPA executive has turned player fines into philanthropy gold (SportsBusiness Journal)
https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2026/01/26/mad-love-an-nbpa-executive-has-turned-player-fines-into-philanthropy-gold/

Who is Konnor Griffin? Everything You Need to Know About MLB’s Next Can’t-Miss Prospect (Bleacher Report)
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25376969-who-konnor-griffin-everything-you-need-know-about-mlbs-next-cant-miss-prospect

Mission impossible? How this amateur women’s soccer team plans to keep advocating and go pro (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/03/sport/soccer-nwsl-minnesota-aurora-intl

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Our goal is to have Sports Doing Good be a portal housing original content and excerpts from and links to the increasing number of articles, websites, video, and other media that showcase the good in sports and society. We aim to celebrate those concepts, activities, events, and individuals by highlighting them for a wider audience. Much of the news today, whether sports- related or not, is incredibly negative and increasingly polarizing, biased, and quite annoying. We are trying to refocus some of the discussion on the good, with a focus on sports.

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Contact Information
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Sarbjit “Sab” Singh
sab@sportsdoinggood.com
516-287-7141
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